Myrkul
"Know me and fear me. My embrace is for all and is patient but sure. The dead can always find you. My hand is everywhere - there is no door I cannot pass, nor guardian who can withstand me." Myrkul, also known as the Lord of Bones, was one of the Dead Three and the god of the dead, as opposed to the god of death, which was the province of Bhaal. His portfolio, and his home, the Bone Castle, were both usurped by Cyric after the Lord of Bones was destroyed atop Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep during the Time of Troubles by Midnight. Later Myrkul's portfolio passed to Kelemvor when Cyric was driven from the City of Strife by an alliance of deities and denizens. Myrkul had a cold, malignant intelligence, and spoke in a high whisper. He was always alert, never slept, and was never suprised. He was never known to lose his temper or be anything other than coldly amused when a mortal succeeded in avoiding his directives or chosen fates. His influence in Faerûn was imposed through fear, and he was a master of making mortals terrified of him through his words and deeds. At times, just to remain unpredictable, he seemed almost kind and caring. His cowled skull head was known in nightmares all over Faerûn, and he was the one deity that almost all human mortals could picture clearly. Myrkul took care that all mortals thought of him often - he was even known to materialize beside open graves, scythe in hand, just to gaze around at gathering mourners for a few silent seconds before fading away, in order to remind everyone that he was waiting for them all. *'Titles: '''Lord of Bones, Lord of the Dead, Old Lord Skull, the Reaper. *'Portfolio:''' Autumn, corruption, the dead, decay, dusk, exhaustion, old age, parasites, wasting. Worshipers The clergy of Myrkul were charged to make folk fear and respect death and the power of the almighty Myrkul so that no one stood against the church or tried to thwart its activities. Myrkul's priests were expected to spread the word that touching a priest of Myrkul brings death. They were expected to tell all folk that those in the service of Myrkul had perfect patience and could be trusted utterly - then conduct themselves accordingly. Myrkulyte clergy were to teach the stories of past and future doombringers - mortals who roamed the land avenging dead friends, masters, and blood kin to whom they had sworn oaths, and slaying those who scoffed or who held other gods supreme over the Lord of Bones. Initiates to the faith first heard the word of Myrkul through a speak with dead spell cast on a temple's most revered deceased former high priest. Such spells allowed all within hearing range to comprehend the corpse's words. Relationships Since he was a mortal Myrkul has had a working relationship if not friendship with Bane and Bhaal. His enemies were and are numerous (accounting those who died). History Myrkul was a powerful adventuring necromancer in his youth, travelling with Bane and Bhaal when the three of them were mortals, dedicated each to a quest to attain divinity for themselves. They travelled to the citadel of Jergal who, luckily for them was tiring of his existence as lord of the end of everything. Breaking off his skeletal knucklebones after an argument over which of the three would rule over the other two, they were each thrown by the mortals to determine which of Jergal's portfolios they would recieve. Malar tried and failed to interrupt this game. The end result was Myrkul gaining the portfolio of the Dead. Jergal served Myrkul as an aide for a time until Myrkul had settled into his new role. Many years later, Myrkul again allied himself with Bane and the two dark gods conspired to steal the Tablets of Fate from the overgod Ao, in hopes that the loss of these tablets would weaken the overgod enough that he could be overthrown. The overgod responded to the theft by casting all the gods from the planes and into Toril, stripping their divine powers in the process. Only Helm was allowed to keep his divine abilities, and the God of Guardians stood watch over the Celestial Stairways, where he barred all deities from entering the planes, and waited for the tablets to be recovered and delivered to him and Ao. Following the destruction of both Bane and Bhaal, Myrkul attacked Midnight, Kelemvor and Elminster atop Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep, hoping his minions would provide enough distraction while he would forcefully seize the Tablets of Fate. But the mortal mage Midnight, infused with the power of the dead Mystra would slay the Lord of Bones before he could make good his escape. Some of the defeated gods essence was siphoned into an artifact contained in the Tower called the Crown of Horns, which he quickly teleported away. The artifact was once in the possession of Nhyris D'Hothek, a yuan-ti from Skullport, but has since abandoned its user, and to this day the spirit of Myrkul endures in the form of this powerful, sentient, artifact. His undead host in Waterdeep would in the end be defeated through the combined effort of the city watch and Khelben Arunsun.